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Famous people · Kirkheaton, West Yorkshire

7 famous people from Kirkheaton, many of them athletes

Wilfred Rhodes, the cricket player of England, is the most widely known, written about in 14 languages. Second place goes to the English cricket player George Hirst, third to Allen Hill. In the Victorian era, 5 were born, the most of any period. Over 130 years of births, the list goes from Allen Hill (1843) to Richard Reed (1973).

#1 best knownWilfred RhodesSports · 1877–1973
+3more
Born here
7
notable people
Best known
Wilfred Rhodes
in 14 Wikipedia languages
First
1843
Allen Hill
Youngest
1973
Richard Reed
Most common field
Sports
6 people

What stands out about Kirkheaton’s famous people

★ What stands out · Known for

What Kirkheaton is known for

Set against the usual town, athletes come out 1.7 times as common.

The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.

The best known

Born in Kirkheaton

The three best known are all athletes.

Wilfred Rhodes#1
Sports

Wilfred Rhodes

1877–1973

Cricket player of England. (1877-1973)

14 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
George Hirst#2
Sports

George Hirst

1871–1954

English cricket player (1871-1954)

10 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Allen Hill#3
Sports

Allen Hill

1843–1910

English cricketer (1843-1910)

8 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years

When Kirkheaton’s famous people were born

The 1870s top the chart, with 2 births in the decade.

VictorianThe 20th century185019001950Lewis WrathmellFred BerryWilliam BatesWilfred Rhodes
SportsBusiness

Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.

Everyone

Everyone else born in Kirkheaton

4 more, from 1855 to 1973.

William Bates

William Bates

1884–1957

English county cricketer (1884-1957)

LW

Lewis Wrathmell

1855–1928

English county cricketer (1855-1928)

RR

Richard Reed

born 1973

English businessman, investor and entrepreneur

Next door

Famous people from the towns next door

Close by, Huddersfield counts 325 famous people, the most of its neighbours.

Questions about famous people from Kirkheaton

Who is the most famous person from Kirkheaton?

Wilfred Rhodes (cricket player of England. (1877-1973)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 14 languages. Next come George Hirst and Allen Hill.

How many famous people were born in Kirkheaton?

7 people born in Kirkheaton have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace.

What is Kirkheaton known for?

Among its famous people, athletes: 6 of the 7. That is 86% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.

Who is the earliest-born famous person from Kirkheaton?

Allen Hill, born in 1843. The youngest on the list was born in 1973.

Who counts as from Kirkheaton?

People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Kirkheaton’s built-up area (the ONS 2022 boundary), a hospital or district within it included, whose English Wikipedia article agrees. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed.

Why is someone missing?

Their Wikidata birthplace may be a bigger area (“London”), another town, or missing, or their article may give no birthplace. We only list people both sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.

From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations) and English Wikipedia (each person’s article confirms the birthplace; linked, not quoted). Birthplaces are placed in the town by the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary (Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0). Ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across UK towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (8)

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.